Primary Election Show Voter Shift
With all precincts reporting in, the results of the June 7 Primary Election are all but fully certified. But the preliminary numbers show a shift in the issues voters want to focus on in the next few years.
For example, Alameda County is likely to get a new Sheriff in Yesenia Sanchez, who at press time held onto a slim majority of the votes (52%) over incumbent Sheriff Greg Ahern (32.2%) and challenger Joann Walker (15.7%).
The county is also likely to see a new Superintendent of Schools as Alysse Castro leads the county’s vote tally over incumbent L.K. Monroe by a margin of 52% to 48%.
The local elections show a shift from the current norms to ones that could be considered progressive when compared to the incumbents’ positions. For example, Yesenia Sanchez ran on a platform of community engagement, rehabilitation of the jail population, and a focus on accountability while Ahern focused on his current qualifications and experience. If successful, Sanchez would be the first woman to hold the office of County Sheriff and Coroner.
Likewise, while both candidates for county education head sought to add focus on equity and services to keep students out of trouble, Castro was critical of Monroe's focus on her management of funds given to schools from the US Government's COVID recovery budget.
There were 136,354 votes waiting to be counted in Alameda County and 2,240,611 statewide, as of last Friday, three days after polls closed. This is despite the announcement that 100 percent of the county’s precincts had “reported.” The state elections website explains that a precinct has “reported” if it counted even one vote — not all of them. California uses a top-two primary system, in which all candidates appear on the same ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, move on to the general election.
It’s not immediately clear who will replace longtime Supervisor Wilma Chan, who died suddenly last year, in her County Supervisor District 3 seat, which includes San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Ashland, and Cherryland. Chan’s appointed successor Dave Brown did not seek re-election. Rebecca Kaplan, an Oakland city council member, leads the pack with 40.4% of votes cast. Lena Tam (29%) is her likely opponent in the General Election in November.
The open California State Assembly District 20 seat will see a runoff in the General Election. San Leandro resident Liz Ortega leads the votes as of press time, but only with 32% of the vote. Shawn Kumagai had the second most votes with 25% leaning in his direction. Castro Valley-based Joe Grcar and Ashland resident Jennifer Esteen round out the four contenders.
Several incumbents were re-elected to the Alameda County office because they were unopposed. These included 2nd District Supervisor Richard Valle, Assessor Phong La, Auditor-Controller/Clerk-Recorder Melissa Wilk, and Treasurer/Tax Collector Henry Levy.
Additionally, Congressman Eric Swalwell, a Democrat received the majority of the votes and will face a yet-to-be-named Republican in November — potentially Tom Wong or Alison Hayden.
Alameda County is also getting a new district attorney because the current DA, Nancy O’Malley, did not run. Pamela Price is leading in the race for county district attorney but is so far polling 41.6%, short of the 50 percent of votes plus one she would need to avoid a November runoff. She is followed by Terry Wiley with 28.3%, Jimmie L. Wilson with 19.9%, and Seth Steward, with 9.8%.
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Among top state officials, Governor Gavin Newsom and Lieutenant Governor Elini Kounalakis, both Democrats, each got a majority of votes cast in the June 7 primary. But they will both need to face second-place Republican challengers in November, Brian Dahle for governor and Angela E. Underwood Jacobs for lieutenant governor.
Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, also got a majority in the primary, with 54.7 percent, but it’s not known yet which Republican challenger he will face in November. Nathan Hochman was getting 18.4 percent of votes cast and counted, while Eric Early was getting 16.7 percent.
Republican Lanhee Chen, with 37% of votes for state controller, was leading four Democrats and a Green. Democrat Malia Cohen was in second place with 21.9 % of the votes cast and counted.
Incumbent state Treasurer Fiona Ma, a Democrat facing sexual harassment allegations, was pulling 57.6 % of votes, running ahead of Republicans Jack M. Guerrero, with 21.6 percent, and Andrew Do, with 17.6 %.
Incumbent Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, a Democrat facing ethics allegations, was leading with 36.5 percent of the vote, pursued by Republican Robert Howell (18 percent)), fellow Democrat Marc Levine, (17.6 percent), and Republican Greg Conlon (16.3 percent).
Superintendent of Public Instruction is the only big statewide race that can be won with a majority on Primary Day, as it is officially nonpartisan. Incumbent Tony Thurmond was pulling a little under half the vote, though, with 46.2 percent. His three closest challengers each had about 11 percent of the vote, but it is not yet clear who Thurmond would face if a runoff were necessary.